Swords and Scalpels
by SorainaSkye
Summary: Ed/Winry, Medieval AU, drabble. "Cauterize it."


A/N: This was written for one of my online friends, alchemypotato, who requested a Ed/Winry Medieval AU.

Its not as Ed/Winry as I originally planned, as it was getting too long as is, so I cut out several scenes I'd planned in my head. Enjoy! Constructive crit is welcome as always.

This hasn't been beta-ed yet, as it is rather short.

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_ "Lady Rockbell!"_

Winry turned, a little bit of hair falling into her face. She had it tied back, but her movements over the course of the day had loosened the tie. She blew back the hair with impatience, leaving the sleeping patient she had been observing alone.

Mei had called her from around the corner, her urgent tone telling Winry that they had a new patient. She briskly made her way around the corner, and almost stopped dead at the sight before her.

At the sight of the bloodied man in the doorway (being supported by a man in a suit of armor), she paled and ran forward.

"What happened?" She demanded, leading the armored man to one of the open cots.

She could see for herself what was wrong; his arm was cleaved clean off at the shoulder. The wounded man appeared to be barely conscious, and his golden eyes flicked around the room deliriously. However, it usually helped treatment to know the exact circumstances of injury.

Mei went around the other side of the cot, bandages and cloths to stem the flow of blood in her hands.

Winry helped the armored man place the patient on the cot, not minding the blood staining her shirtfront.

The armored man hovered close by, his arms swinging up and then down again, clearly at a loss for what to do. "Please- help him-"

Apparently the man had not heard her. "Mei, hand me the wine," Winry held out her hand, and not looking at the man repeated: "Sir, I must know what occurred here in order to better help him-"

The man's head bobbed, his armor clanking. "Yes- there was- an attack- assassination attempt-"

"On the King?" Mei slipped the wine bottle into Winry's fingers, and she poured it on the wound. The man proved himself to be conscious as his eyes shot open and he writhed on the cot, crying out. Winry and Mei held him down with practiced ease as the armored man said "Brother, you have to stay still! They're trying to help you!"

The wounded man stilled, his breathing harsh and heavy. For a moment his eyes met hers, and then they rolled back in his head and he passed out.

"Brother!" The armored man cried in alarm, but Winry fixed him with a hard stare as Mei pressed the cloths to the wound.

"He's fine. He just passed out." Winry began wrapping the wound. "This is temporary, to help slow the bleeding. We need to stop the wound from becoming infected."

The armored man nodded again, and Winry smiled at him. "This man is your brother, yes? I know you are worried. But a the moment I need as much information as I can so that I can treat him."

The armored man hesitated, and then nodded once more. He reached up and removed his helmet, revealing a handsome face with the same golden eyes as his brother. Out of the corner of her eye, Winry saw Mei blush. "My name is Alphonse Elric. I'm one of the King's Alchemist Knights."

As it turned out, the situation was more complex than an assassination attempt on the King. Several rebels - supporters of the old king (The Devil King, as many had taken to calling him - had slipped in among members of the castle staff. When King Roy was negotiating with Emperor Ling Yao, the rebels had attacked. As per usual, there were several Knights in the room, as well as Ling Yao's personal guard. In addition, there were a few Alchemist Knights in the room as well, which included Alphonse and his older brother, Edward. Ling Yao was easily protected by the bodyguards at his side, and it didn't take long for the other Knights to make short work of the other rebels- or so they had thought. However, another rebel had been lurking in the shadows. Alphonse had been standing by the king, and the rebel had charged them, blade drawn. Alphonse hadn't even had time to turn around and face the attacker before Edward got between them, and lost his arm in the process.

All of this he told them as they finished dressing Edward's wounds, made up the cot, and readied various tools for preventing infection. Alphonse watched them the entire time, lingering just close enough to often be in the way, and Winry had to tell him firmly (but kindly) to stand back a little.

"We have a few options," Mei told him, and Winry almost smiled at the way Mei leaned close to him and put a sympathetic hand on his arm. "In order to prevent infection, there are several salves that we can rub on his wound. However, the most sure way to prevent infection is to cauterize it."

Alphonse's eyes widened.

"It will be very painful, and it will scar," Winry informed him softly. "However, it is truly the best thing to do in these situations. We have slowed the bleeding and cleaned the wound. He won't be dying from loss of blood, it is infection he needs to worry about. However, as he is unconscious and you are his kin, we will leave the choice up to you."

Alphonse looked at his brother's still form. Now that they had cleaned up the blood, and Edward was no longer writhing on the cot, Winry could notice the similarities between them. She'd heard of the Elric Brothers, the famous Alchemist Knights, before, but she'd never actually seen them. Even though she was one of the most respected healers in the Kingdom (with Mei being the other) and even though she knew both the King and Queen to be on first-name terms with them in private, she had not met most of the Alchemy Knights. She had assumed that she would when Mei attempted to join their ranks the next year, but even then she had not expected to meet the Elric Brothers. Next to the king, the brothers were some of the most spoken-of people in the land. The way some spoke about them, it seemed many thought they were near-immortal, but she had proof before her eyes that they weren't.

Alphonse stared at his brother for several seconds in silence, and then let out a breath. "Cauterize it."

(-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-)

Winry had had a lot of patients in her short time serving the king, but Edward Elric was easily the most frustrating one.

From the moment he opened his eyes, he was loud. He had many complaints, and he seemed to have no scruples about telling them to her. While Alphonse was pleasant and smiled often, Edward spent most of his time scowling.

Thankfully, at this point he at least listened to her. It hadn't taken long to get him to realize that she was not going to tolerate his behavior. He was still loud, frustrating, and rude, but the moment she fixed him with a look, he would grumble and cooperate.

However, he was more relaxed around his brother. With Alphonse Edward was far more prone to joking and smiling, and Winry learned a lot about the brothers just by hearing their conversations.

As time went on, she looked forward to her daily arguments with Edward. It was oddly…enjoyable.

One night she found Edward sitting awake, and staring at the place where his arm had been.

"You're awake," Winry said, somewhat surprised. Edward slept so deeply she often wondered if he'd been sneaking the sleeping tea.

He started at her words, and then looked at her. In the moonlight, his hair was somehow both silver and gold, and he clenched his good hand. She found herself unable to look away from the sight of him, sitting slightly hunched, his body scarred and broken in the moonlight. For a moment he didn't speak.

"Sir Edward?"

He blinked, and the spell was broken. "Yes?"

She gestured with the bowl in her hands, as she did every night at this time. "I have to re-apply the salve." Though cauterizing the wound had thus far prevented infection, she was still diligently applying salves as extra precaution. Soon he would hopefully be well enough to walk around, and not long after that he would be able to leave her care.

Edward nodded at her, and she approached him, setting the bowl on the side table and unwrapping his shoulder. He drew his breath in sharply with his teeth as the bandages stuck a little to his shoulder, thanks to the dried blood.

As she applied the salve, she noticed that he was staring at his intact arm. However, when she looked away for a moment, she looked back to find him staring at her. He flushed and looked away, muttering something under his breath.

Winry laughed softly at his actions, but didn't say anything at first. When she did, it wasn't to argue or to tease. "What's wrong?"

He looked at her again, startled, and then focused his gaze on the palm of his hand. He paused, and then answered. "I can't do alchemy anymore."

"Oh." She did not know what to say. It was hardly the first time she'd had a patient that had lost a limb in some way. Sometimes this meant that they could no longer continue working as they had before.

"I don't need it," he said, clearly unbothered by her lack of response. "But…I already miss it. And other things." He closed and opened his hand a few times as he spoke.

"Well, perhaps you will only have to endure that for a little while," Winry offered, beginning to wrap his shoulder again.

He snorted. "I do not see how."

"I'm working on something," Winry went on. "Something that could be a big help to people that have lost limbs. I want to make them new ones."

For a moment, Edward simply stared at her, and she went on, almost nervously. "It would help others through every day menial tasks, and they could save lives. They are ideally strong enough to wtihstand falling, and able to survive a long while. She explained the details of her idea, waving her hands excitedly for emphasis. As she spoke, Edward watched her, smiling to himself.

"What I mean to say," she added, "Is that there are possibilities. Don't give up yet. I don't know how it will effect your alchemy, but there are options for you."

He was looking at her again, and he looked to be blushing again as well. "That sounds pretty amazing."

This time it was her who blushed. "Thank you."

He didn't say anything else, and the rest of the night was quiet. However, as she walked around, dealing with other patients and cleaning, he would keep sneaking glances at her, and smile.

* * *

~fin


End file.
